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PDP roping in leaders of erstwhile Janata Dal
Survey begins for project
to divert Ravi waters
Separatists spreading network in Kishtwar
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Omar briefs Governor on measures to restore peace
Normalcy returns to Valley
MLA, PSOs manhandle police officer
Cop thrashes cabbie
Youth Cong hails appointment of interlocutors
Stocking of essential items completed
in Ladakh
Reorganise state to fulfil wishes of all regions: Bhim Singh
Secondary Education Decision on separate directorate hailed
Training centres for physically challenged sought
CM briefs Governor about steps to restore normalcy
Mystery Death of Woman
Rail traffic restored
Novelist Anand Lehar meets varsity students
Selection of interlocutors disappointing, says PDP
3 militants killed in encounter
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PDP roping in leaders of erstwhile Janata Dal
Jammu, October 14 Some of prominent leaders of the erstwhile Janata Dal have already joined the PDP and some others are likely to follow suit as they are finding it difficult to “accommodate” themselves in other political groups. Lakhotra, who in 1996 had won the Assembly election as a Janata Dal candidate from Raipur Domana Assembly segment, had joined the NC after his party, the Janata Dal, was completely wiped from the state politics. As a leader of the Janata Dal in the early 90s, the Mufti had developed a strong network of leaders and workers in the Jammu region. It was the result of this network that the Janata Dal emerged as a force to reckon with in the 1996 Assembly elections despite the fact that the Mufti had left the party by then. Due to the lack of leadership at the local level and a crisis at the national level, the Janata Dal was completely disintegrated in the state and all its MLAs either joined the Congress or the NC as they were not in a position of maintain their separate identity. “Majority of the leaders and workers of the erstwhile Janata Dal still consider the Mufti as their leader and those who have joined other parties are feeling suffocated,” a senior PDP leader told The Tribune and hoped that majority of these leaders would join the PDP in the days to come. These leaders are in touch with the PDP patron and they have expressed their desire to work again under his leadership. Lakhotra today said despite being in the NC, he always considered the Mufti as his leader. Lakhotra had written a letter to the Mufti in which he had requested the PDP patron to enroll him as a member of his party. “At that time, we had no option but to join the NC but now the situation has changed. The Mufti taught us politics, so we want to work under his leadership,” he said at the function, which was organised to felicitate him at the PDP office. He said he decided to join the PDP because this was the only party that was committed to equitable development of the state. He said the Mufti as a Chief Minister of the state had set an example of accountable governance in the state, in which every region and sub-region got an equal opportunity in the development process. |
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Survey begins for project
to divert Ravi waters
The canal will take water to the ‘parched’ Kandi belt in Kathua, Samba and Jammu districts. In what amounts to asserting its rights over the Ravi, which Punjab claims as its own, the state government started a geological survey yesterday to create a link between the Ravi and the Ravi Canal. Taj Mohi-ud-Din, Minister for Irrigation and Public Helath Engineering, told The Tribune that the survey report to construct the link through tunnels and an open channel to take water from the Ravi began yesterday with geologists and other experts of WAPCOS company initiating it. “It is a happy day as well as a sad day for me. The scheme of taking water from the Ravi was conceived in the 1970s, but as the Punjab Government kept changing the proposals and did not fulfil any promise to us, our agriculture fields in the Kandi belt remained dependent on rain and suffered drought often,” the minister said. He said as Punjab had “unilaterally” terminated all water sharing agreements with other states, it had no locus standi to stop us from using the Ravi waters. “While in the earlier project water had to be lifted from the Ranjit Sagar Dam, now it would flow to Vijaypur with natural gravity, as we would lift water from the river upstream only.” The government plans to generate power from the water by creating “falls” on the way. The canal, with an original stretch of 82 km from Vijaypur near Jammu to the Ravi, was till date completed till Basantpur village, near Lakhanpur, a stretch of 79 km. It was originally planned to go up to the river but the plan had to be revised after the Punjab Government proposed the Shahpur Kandi project in the 1970s. Under the Shahpur Kandi project, it promised water for the Ravi Canal from the dam lake. As the Shahpur Kandi project never took off, the state government waited for water all these years with agriculture in the Kandi belt suffering badly. Meanwhile, in an agreement with the Punjab Government, the state government started lifting water from the Ravi from downstream the Ranjit Sagar Dam (known as Thein Dam earlier). This did not prove helpful in feeding the Ravi Canal, as very less quantity of water was released from the dam. There was rarely enough water to be ‘lifted’ for feeding the Ravi Canal. Irrigation Department sources claimed the state always had rights over the left banks of the Ravi and Punjab on the right banks. “They can’t question us using this side of the river.” They said it was not their problem that the inflow to the dam may decrease and eventually the power generation capacity would be hit. The state government, in fact, planned to generate more than 20 MW from the new ‘link’ they would be making between the river and the canal. |
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Separatists spreading network in Kishtwar
Jammu, October 14 “Recovery of letters and posters from Kishtwar town’s Jama Masjid and Sungali village, written on letterheads of the banned outfit, Lashkar-e-Toiba, carrying seal and signature, amply convey that separatists via their sleeper cells have been trying hard to create disturbances in Kishtwar town as well,” sources in the police department told The Tribune. But being an area which has Muslims and Hindus in almost equal proportion, barring few incidents in the town in the past, they (separatists) had not been able to succeed in their designs, they said. However, the sources added that separatist sentiments do exist in certain pockets of the mountainous district, including the town. The Hurriyat certainly has its sleeper cells in Kishtwar and in 2008 we had booked at least four persons under the Public Safety Act (PSA) because they had become a threat to peace and equanimity, said a senior police officer on the condition of anonymity. “They had their roots in the Hurriyat and had been deputed for the purpose (to incite passions) of freedom struggle,” he added. The police officer said there was no denying the fact that ever since militancy erupted in Kashmir in the late 80s, separatists, militants and their handlers tried their best to create disturbances in erstwhile Doda district, of which Kishtwar had been a part. It may be stated here that Kishtwar had always remained a tough call for the administration for the simple fact that both progressive and regressive ideologies exist here in confrontation. “Separatist elements always try to create trouble on this side of the Jawahar Tunnel so as to engulf Muslim-dominated areas in militancy and other disturbances akin to what Kashmir had witnessed in the past over two decades so as to convey to the international community that the entire state was a disturbed area,” said sources. Sources in the police department, however, expressed regrets over the lack of initiative on part of elected representatives to build on the gains made by security forces in 2005-06. Militancy had come down drastically and there had been no suicide attacks from 2006-09, they said.
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Omar briefs Governor on measures to restore peace
Srinagar, October 14 The Governor discussed with the Chief Minister various issues relating to governance, particularly the implementation of related state laws for establishing the full-fledged functioning of statutory bodies responsible for enhancing accountability, promoting efficiency and curbing corruption in the administrative system. The Governor stressed that all possible measures be taken on an urgent basis to restore full functioning of schools, colleges and universities in the Valley, with particular attention being paid to enable young children to regularly attend schools. Issues relating to the conduct of elections to rural and urban self-governing bodies were also discussed, an official spokesman said.
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Normalcy returns to Valley
Srinagar, October 14 Shops and business establishments were open and there was a heavy traffic on roads. Attendance in government offices, educational institutions, banks and private offices was normal. There were traffic jams in different areas of the city, including Lal Chowk, and near the Srinagar bypass, connecting the South and North Kashmir areas through Central Srinagar. The authorities, however, put restrictions on the movement of people in Palhalan and Delina villages along the Srinagar-Baramulla highway in North Kashmir. A police spokesman said no curfew was imposed in any part of the Valley today, and added that some restrictions had been put in place in the Delina and Palhalan areas of Baramulla district. It was after two days’ bandh that normal life was restored in the Valley. The last normal working day was on Monday which was followed by strict curfew restrictions on Tuesday to prevent the “Hyderpora Chalo” march of the Hurriyat Conference. A complete bandh was observed in the Valley yesterday. With shoppers thronging markets and students, employees and workers attending educational institutions and going to their places of work, a heavy rush was witnessed in market places.
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MLA, PSOs manhandle police officer
Jammu, October 14 “The medical examination of the police officer, Shamsher Singh, who was manhandled by the MLA and his PSOs, has been conducted and legal action is being initiated against the MLA for his unwarranted act,” DSP, Traffic (Rural), Raj Singh Goria told The Tribune. The DSP said the incident occurred when Shamsher stopped MLA’s son, who was riding a motorcycle without a crash helmet, at a check point near Ghagwal. The traffic police officer asked the MLA’s son to produce documents of the vehicle but the latter instead of following the instructions entered into a verbal duel with him, he added. As tempers ran high, the MLA’s son informed his father about the incident through phone. The MLA, within no time, reached the check point along with his PSOs and manhandled the police officer, added the DSP. SSP, Samba district, JL Sharma said following the incident the medical examination of the police officer was conducted. However, no FIR had been registered against the MLA as of now.
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Cop thrashes cabbie
Jammu, October 14 The taxi drivers alleged that the Sub-Inspector not only beat up driver Harpreet Singh, but also used abusive language while talking to him at Gujjar Nagar here. They added that Harpreet was driving a Tata Sumo from Katra to Jammu and as he crossed Gujjar Nagar the Sub-Inspector’s motorcycle hit his vehicle. The Sub-Inspector started abusing Harpreet, who in panic drove towards the taxi stand in the Bahu Fort area for help, but was beaten up again by Nasir there. As Harpreet reached the taxi stand, all other taxi drivers rushed to the Bahu Fort police post and later arrived at a compromise. “Though the taxi drivers came to the police post and levelled charges against a Sub-Inspector, the issue was resolved, as both parties arrived at a compromise,” said a police officer at Bahu Fort police post.
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Youth Cong hails appointment of interlocutors
Jammu, October 14 In his speech, Pathania recalled the words of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that “the anger and frustration of the youth of Kashmir” and that of AICC president Sonia Gandhi, who has vouched for “their legitimate aspirations”, would be respected. He said, “It is high time that the misled stone-throwing youths in Kashmir come to appreciate the sincerity and sense of belonging of the Prime Minister, AICC president and Rahul Gandhi for their personal efforts in resolving the issue,” he said, adding, “They (stone-throwing youths) should rather fall in line and initiate a dialogue with the interlocutors appointed by the Central leadership because guns and stones were not solution to any problem”. Complimenting the setting-up of task forces for the Jammu and Ladakh regions, Pathania called upon the Central leadership of the party to ensure that the reports of these task forces do not gather dust like those of Gajendragadkar Commission and Wazir Commission. He said Jammu and Ladakh had suffered the worst of discrimination and political alienation since 1947. |
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Stocking of essential items completed in Ladakh
Srinagar, October 14 “The winter stocking of essential commodities like foodgrains, petroleum products and construction material in Leh and Kargil districts has been completed,” an official spokesman said after a high-level meeting chaired by Ladakh Affairs Minister Abdul Rahim Rather here. The spokesman said 16,313 metric tonnes of rice, wheat (16,215 metric tonnes) and sugar (1,242 metric tonnes) had been stocked in Leh district, whereas 12,171 metric tonnes of rice, sugar (1,181 metric tonnes) and flour (7,000 metric tonnes) had been stocked in Kargil district. The stocking of the essential items in the region is an annual practice ahead of harsh winters. The spokesman said 1.32 lakh LPG cylinders had been stocked in Leh district, whereas 71,516 cylinders had reached Kargil district. Nearly 2,800 kl and 1,000 kl of kerosene had been stocked in Leh and Kargil districts, respectively, he said. The Forest Department had stocked about 700 tonnes of firewood and 2,373 cubic ft of timber in Kargil and 327 tonnes of firewood and 15,724 cubic ft of timber in Leh district, the spokesman said. The Leh district administration had also stocked 25,000 cubic ft of timber in Leh to give an impetus to the ongoing reconstruction programme under the Prime Minister's relief package, he said. The Public Works Department had already stocked about 3.33 lakh bags of cement in the two districts, the spokesman said. The stocking of the construction material by SICOP and other departments concerned was also in full swing, he said, adding that the Horticulture Department had introduced imported high-density apple plant varieties in Ladakh. The Registrar, Cooperatives, assured that the stocking of the targeted 7,850 quintals of chemical fertilisers in Kargil and 83,000 quintals in Leh would be completed in a week. —
PTI
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Reorganise state to fulfil wishes of all regions: Bhim Singh
Jammu, October 14 Addressing a press conference here, Panthers Party chairman Bhim Singh said the working committee of the party in a meeting held yesterday passed many resolutions pertaining to the prevailing situation in the state. Giving details about the resolutions, Bhim Singh said the working committee reiterated its demand for the reorganisation of the state so as to establish separate assemblies for Jammu and Kashmir provinces. It also demanded that the Civil Secretariat should work in both Srinagar and Jammu throughout the year. The Panthers Party in a resolution urged the Central government, particularly the Prime Minister, to withdraw India’s application pending in the UNO since 1948 that was moved against the aggression of Pakistan at that time. Bhim Singh also announced that his party would celebrate the 63rd anniversary of accession on October 26 and 27. “The celebrations would be organised at the district level in Jammu and Kashmir on October 26, the day Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession in 1947,” he said. Bhim Singh appealed to all political parties, social organisations, including NGOs, and educational institutions to take out victory rallies with the Tricolour to send a message to the enemies of peace and accession that the people of Jammu and Kashmir were inseparable and integral part of India.
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Secondary Education Decision on separate directorate hailed
Jammu, October 14 According to a statement issued here, under the chairmanship of HD Qureshi, president of the forum, the central executive of the forum appreciated the announcement made by Education Minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed in the Legislative Assembly for opening a separate Directorate for RMSA in the state at the earliest. The House members said separate authorities for the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and the RMSA would help in the fast implementation of the Centrally-sponsored schemes and also in achieving the desirable targets of universalisation of education and providing institutions with necessary infrastructure and academic facilities. —
TNS |
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Training centres for physically challenged sought
Srinagar, October 14 The demands presented by the delegation led by the President of the association, Sajad Ahmad Masoodi, included the setting up of vocational training centres for physically challenged and provision of soft loans for ensuring their economic empowerment, effective implementation of the reservation policy, maintenance of the reservation roster, enhancement of the monthly pension from Rs 400 to Rs 1500 under the Integrated Social Security Scheme and its timely payment and introduction of the Braille system of education at the primary level for the benefit of visually impaired children. Other demands included provision of a specially-designed vehicle and a motorised tricycle for use by the physically challenged. The Governor announced that a specially-designed vehicle and a motorised tricycle would be provided to the association for facilitating the mobility of the physically challenged. He added the motorised tricycle would be provided soon, and in regard to the specially-designed vehicle, he asked the Principal Secretary, RK Goyal, to find out the availability of such a vehicle at the earliest. |
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CM briefs Governor aboutsteps to restore normalcy
Srinagar, October 14 The Governor discussed with the Chief Minister various issues relating to governance, particularly the implementation of related state laws for establishing the full-fledged functioning of statutory bodies responsible for enhancing accountability, promoting efficiency and curbing corruption in the administrative system. The Governor stressed that all possible measures be taken on an urgent basis to restore full functioning of schools, colleges and universities in the Valley, with particular attention being paid to enable young children to regularly attend schools.
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Mystery Death of Woman
Jammu, October 14 The police said the body of the deceased was handed over to her relatives after a post-mortem at Government Medical College and Hospital and they were waiting for a report to lodge an FIR. Some cops were also deployed in the hospital as relatives of the deceased blocked the Narwal bypass last night for an hour, demanding action against the in-laws of the deceased. Noor Mohammad, father of the deceased, had alleged that his daughter was beaten to death by her in-laws, claiming that he had seen injury marks on her body and demanded action against all of them, including the husband. Meanwhile, the in-laws told the police that the woman died of a snakebite. Meanwhile, the police has started proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC. — TNS
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Shivali wins poster contest
Jammu, October 14 Kanwar Iqbal from the Government Medical College and Hospital got the second prize while the third prize went to Farooq Ahmed from the Institute of Music and Fine Arts. Aditya Manohar Sharma from Government College for Engineering and Technology, Preeti Sharma from Government Women College, Parade, and Poonam Abrol from Taawish College of Education were awarded the Certificates of Merit. TS Batra, Anil Saraf and Chander Uday Singh were the adjudicators. The topics for the competition were ‘Commonwealth Games’, ‘Drug Abuse’, and ‘Pollution’. The competition was conducted by the Department of Students Welfare, Jammu University. The posters with meaningful messages such as “Don’t let These Drugs Smoke Away Your Life”, “Avoid Drugs”, “Let’s Make an Effort to Control Pollution”, “Green Earth, Clean Earth”, and “Let’s Make Commonwealth Games Pride for Everyone” were a visual treat.
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Rail traffic restored
Jammu, October 14 “The passengers had to face a harrowing time at the railway station yesterday. But the traffic was restored last night because of the dedicated hardwork of our engineers,” GP Singh, Divisional Traffic Manager (DTM), Jammu, said. He said the washing track had also been restored. The main railway line, which had been blocked around 5 pm yesterday, was opened for the movement of trains around 10 pm yesterday. Singh added that they had already suspended three officials of the Northern Railways - a cabin man Yashpal, a pointsman Brij Bihari and a shunter Rajesh Gupta - who were found neglecting their duties, while the mishap took place. The DTM said senior officials of the Northern Railways had already formed a committee that would investigate the matter thoroughly, since it was a grave matter. Sources revealed that two more officials of the Northern Railways were under scanner for neglecting their duties. Singh also stated that all trains were running on their scheduled timings today.
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Novelist Anand Lehar meets varsity students
Jammu, October 14 The programme was presided over by former HoD Urdu, Kashmir University, Prof. Qudoos Javed. Mushtaq Sadaf from Sahitya Akademi was the chief guest on the occasion. Prof. Malik announced that a new collection of Anand Lehar’s short stories titled “Batwara” would be released by the department soon. Anand Lehar spoke at length about his life and literary works. He said he was born in Poonch, where he got his schooling and then he did his LLB from University of Jammu. “After completing my LLB, I start practicing in the High court. Urdu was my first love and I started writing short stories, which used to be published in different journals of the sub-continent,” he said.
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Selection of interlocutors disappointing, says PDP
Srinagar, October 14 In a statement here today, she said though the three interlocutors were eminent and highly respected personalities,it was felt that their nomination for the Kashmir mission reflected a lack of appreciation of the problem in the state. She said the all-party initiative by the Prime Minister had acted as a message for the people of Kashmir that the country and its political class were concerned about them. |
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region, former Chief Minister and patron of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has started roping in leaders of the erstwhile Janata Dal who had worked with him in the early 90s.
Jammu, October 14